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European Community
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the number of civil servants in his Department whose main task is work related wholly or mainly to the European Community.
Mr. Aitken : There are no civil servants in my Department whose main task is work related wholly or mainly to the European Community.
Nuclear Material
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will now make it his policy to publish the official report of the types of nuclear material imported from the USA under the 1959 amendment to the 1958 Anglo- American co-operation agreement on atomic energy matters.
Nuclear Warheads
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department had with the United States Department of Energy prior to the release of AEC document LXXXI-596, concerning United States knowledge of United Kingdom nuclear warhead development up to 1958.
Mr. Archie Hamilton : The Ministry of Defence was made fully aware of plans to declassify this document prior to its release.
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ENVIRONMENT
Executive Agencies
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list, for the last 12 months, the titles of papers published by the chief executive of each executive agency for which he is responsible.
Mr. Howard : The papers published by my executive agencies are the responsibility of their chief executives. I have asked Mr. Roger Courtney to arrange for a reply to be given for the Building Research Establishment ; Professor David Rhind for the Ordnance Survey ; Mr. Stephen Crow for the Planning Inspectorate ; Mr. Marcus Buck for the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre ; and Mr. Roger Powell for the Buying Agency.
Letter from Roger Courtney to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 29 October 1992 :
The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your question on papers that I have published within the last twelve months. I have presented two papers at conferences in the past twelve months :
Technical Information to the Construction Industry : The Oxygen of Research' (International Building Information Congress, Stuttgart, October 1991)
Buildings and the Environment' (Keynote Address : CIB 92 World Building Congress, May 1992)
which have yet to appear in print.
During the course of a year, BRE staff publish many papers in scientific, technical and professional journals and the Establishment produces many publications crystallising the results of its work in advice to industry. These are listed in the enclosed copy of the BRE Annual Review.
Letter from David Rhind to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 27 October 1992 :
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about papers published by Chief Executives.
Since taking up the Chief Executive post at Ordnance Survey in January this year I have published the following papers : The information infrastructure of Geographical Information Systems. Proceedings 5th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, 1-19, International Geographical Union.
Geographical Information Systems and topographic mapping. Proceedings First Australian Conference on Mapping and Charting, Australian Institute of Cartographers.
Ordnance Survey and the historical record of the British Landscape. Paper given to the Future History of our Landscape' meeting in the Royal Society, October 16th 1992.
Reinventing the map. Geographical Magazine, November 1992, pp 30-32.
Geographical data as a commodity. GIS Europe, Vol. 1, No. 8, October 1992, pp 24-26.
I shall be pleased to provide further details if required. Letter from Stephen Crow to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 29 October 1992 :
In reply to your Parliamentary Questions, I am asked on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Environment to list both the titles of papers published by the Planning Inspectorate since it became an agency and the fact finding visits made by myself in the last 12 months ; and to indicate the findings resulting from those visits. The Planning Inspectorate became an Executive Agency only on 1 April this year, and so a full 12 months have not yet elapsed.
The only Inspectorate paper published since 1 April is entitled "Good Practice at Planning Inquiries". It was
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published on 7 September 1992 as an Annex to Department of the Environment Circular 24/92 (Welsh Office Circular 447/92). Since April I have made one fact finding visit, to Edinburgh and nearby, where I was shown some interesting examples of urban regeneration, and where I was able to discuss, with my opposite numbers in Scotland and Ireland, matters of mutual concern. The visit and meeting resulted in useful comparison of professional and managerial practice.Letter from Marcus Buck to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 27 October 1992 :
I am responding to your question regarding the titles of papers published by Agency Chief Executives in the Department of the Environment.
During the last twelve months The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre has published two documents--its updated Framework Document in January and the Annual Report 1991-2 in June.
If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.
Letter from Roger H. Powell to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 2 November 1992 :
I have been asked to reply direct to your parliamentary question regarding papers published by myself since taking office. The only published document to date has been TBA's Annual Report for 1991.
Coal
Mrs. Ann Taylor : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the Government's policy on the appropriate level of national coal stocks ; and if he will now review the procedure for planning applications for opencast mines.
Mr. Baldry : The review announced on 21 October by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade will look at the level of coal stocks, both at the pithead and the power stations and whether plans to run them down are sensibly phased.
With regard to the procedure for planning application for opencast mines, I announced on 15 July that the guidelines contained in MPG3 will be revised. My Department expects to bring forward a draft for public consultation next year following the review of the Government's energy policy.
Local Government Finance
Mr. Jonathan Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the Government's policy on the relief of hardship for business ratepayers ;
(2) what is the Government's policy regarding the current operation of section 49 of the Local Government and Finance Act 1988 ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Redwood : Section 49 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 gives local authorities discretion to grant hardship relief of up to 100 per cent., where it is reasonable for them to do so having regard to the interests of their community charge payers. Where they grant such relief, 75 per cent. of the cost is met by the non-domestic rates pool and only 25 per cent. locally. Alternatively, under regulations, authorities may enter into an agreement with a ratepayer to defer liability and take an interest in his property to secure payment, or they can spread a ratepayer's annual liability over 12 instalments instead of 10. These are decisions which are best made locally. We have drawn authorities' attention to the existence of their section 49 powers and issued advice on their use.
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Rented Housing
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new homes were built for rent in (a) 1979 and (b) 1989.
Mr. Baldry : The Department does not collect information about houses built to rent. However most housebuilding by housing associations, local authorities, new towns and Government Departments will be for rent. Figures for housebuilding completions by these bodies are published in the annual and quarterly publication "Housing and Construction Statistics". Figures for England in 1979 appear in table 6.1(a) of the 1979-1989 annual edition. Latest figures for 1989 appear in table 6.1(a) of the 1981-1991 edition. A copy of both publications is in the Library.
Home Insulation Scheme
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what the budget for the home insulation scheme was in (a) 1979 and (b) 1989.
Mr. Baldry : Total expenditure by local authorities in England on the home insulation scheme, as reported to the Department, for the years 1979 and 1989 is shown in table 7.7 of the publication "Housing and Construction Statistics 1979-1989". A copy of this publication is in the Library.
Uniform Business Rate
Mr. Llwyd : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to exclude charities and voluntary organisations from the uniform business rate.
Mr. Robin Squire : No. The needs of charities have long been recognised in reliefs from taxes. In England and Wales they enjoy 80 per cent. mandatory rate relief on all property occupied for charitable purposes. It can be topped up to 100 per cent. at charging authorities' discretion. Non-profit-making bodies in England and Wales are eligible for relief of up to 100 per cent. at charging authorities' discretion. The discretion permits authorities to reflect the benefit derived by charge payers who bear part of the cost of the relief.
Public Sector Tenants
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will seek to establish a mobility discount scheme to enable public and social housing tenants to change to other forms of tenure.
Mr. Baldry : Section 129 of the Housing Act 1988 empowers local authorities to give grants to their tenants to help them obtain other accommodation by buying or leasing a home or by extending an existing property. Housing associations that are registered with the Housing Corporation may give similar grants to their tenants under the corporation's tenants incentive scheme.
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European Community
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the number of civil servants in his Department whose main task is work related wholly or mainly to the European Community.
Mr. Howard : I will write to the hon. Member, as the information requested will take a little time to assemble.
Pit Closures
Mr. William Ross : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) for each of the 31 coal mines listed for closure, what are the sums he has set aside to increase grant aid to each of the local authorities affected by the resulting loss of rates revenue ;
(2) if he will publish a table to show for the 10 coal pits listed for immediate closure and the 21 pits to be closed in the longer term the sums paid by each pit in rates in each of the last two years, and the current year, indicating the councils to which the rates were paid in each case.
Mr. Robin Squire : Information on the rates paid by each of the pits in question is not held centrally.
Any change to a local authority's rate income during the course of a financial year will not affect the amount of its revenue support grant. Authorities are able to avoid the cash flow consequences of any significant unplanned loss by recalculating their contributions to the national non- domestic rates pool.
Tenants Charter
Mr. Bill Michie : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to monitor the progress of the tenants charter.
Mr. Baldry [holding answer 2 November 1992] : The tenants charter set out the individual legal rights of secure tenants. The council tenants charter, published earlier this year, is a framework for action by tenants and landlords and gives more information about the standards council tenants can expect. Local authorities are required to send annual reports about their housing management performance to their tenants. My Department receives a copy of each authority's report.
Constituency Boundaries
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the reports published by the Local Government Boundary Commission regarding the boundaries of the Epping Forest parliamentary constituency, including the dates of publication of first and further draft proposals, the date by which comments were to be received and the date of publication of final reports ; and if he will send a copy of each report to the hon. Member for Doncaster.
Mr. Robin Squire : The Local Government Boundary Commission deals with local authority boundaries, not parliamentary boundaries. But the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England takes account of county and London borough boundaries.
Reports of the Local Government Boundary Commission relating to county and London borough boundaries affecting Epping Forest are listed in the table. I have sent copies of the reports to the hon. Member.
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"
|c|Table showing local government boundary commission reports affecting Epping Forest|c|
Name of report |Date of draft |Closing date for |Date of further |Closing date for |Date of final report
|proposals |comments |roposals |comments
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Essex/Hertfordshire |15 April 1988 &
| 13 November 1989 |Not known |None |- |15 February 1991
Redbridge/Epping
Forest |31 May 1989 |26 July 1989 |14 December 1990 |15 February 1991 |12 May 1992
Waltham Forest/
Epping Forest |19 September 1988 |14 November 1988 |None |- |28 February 1992
Timber Imports
Mr. Galbraith : To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will restrict imports of illegally harvested timber ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Needham : I have been asked to reply.
I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for St. Helen's, North (Mr. Evans) on 20 May, Official Report, column 157 .
EDUCATION
Teachers Pensions Agency
Mr. Redmond : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list (a) by grade the number employed, (b) the staffing costs for the year 1991-92 and (c) the estimate for 1992-93, for the Teachers Pensions Agency.
Mr. Forth : Responsibility for staff numbers and costs has been delegated to the Teachers Pensions Agency under its chief executive Mrs. Denyse Metcalfe. I have asked her to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Denyse Metcalfe to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 3 November 1992 :
The Secretary of State for Education has asked me to supply a detailed answer to the recent question you tabled about the staffing levels and costs of the Teachers' Pensions Agency.
The Agency was not established until 1 April 1992. The estimate of numbers to be employed during the year 1992-93 is as follows :
Grade |Estimated numbers
|(full-time
|equivalent)
-------------------------------------------------------
Grade 5 |1.0
Grade 7 |4.0
SEO |4.7
HEO |19-0
EO |43.4
AO |142.6
AA |71.9
SGB1 |2.0
SGB2 |17.0
Personal Secretary |1.0
|---
|306.6
The estimated staffing cost for 1992-93 is £3.725
million.
I have copied this reply to Mr. Forth.
European Community
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the number of civil servants in his Department whose main task is work related wholly or mainly to the European Community.
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Exhibition, Upper Waiting Hall
Mr. Steen : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if his Department has considered an application for an exhibition relating to the London Institute to be displayed in the Upper Waiting Hall.
Mr. Forman : I understand that, under procedures agreed by the Services Committee, arrangements have been made with the authorities of the House for the exhibition to be held in the Upper Waiting Hall from Monday 23 November until Friday 27 November 1992.
Grant-maintained Schools
Mrs. Helen Jackson : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the cost of the publicity brochures on grant-maintained status that have been sent to all chairs of school government management committees.
Mr. Forth : Publicity brochures on GM status have not been sent to all chairmen of school government management committees. My right hon. Friend recently wrote to the headteacher and chairman of governors of all maintained schools about GM status in the light of responses to the White Paper, "Choice and Diversity : a new framework for schools". That letter invited them to request an information pack if they so wished.
Schools (Complaints)
Dr. Wright : To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent reports and representations he has received on the effectiveness of the parents charter in helping parents who want to complain about their child's school ; and what plans he has for a simple and accessible complaints system for schools.
Mr. Forth : Parents' complaints about schools are best dealt with locally as far as possible, and many schools and local education authorities provide advice to parents on complaints procedures. The Government are committed to safeguarding and keeping under review parents' channels of complaint and rights to redress if they are dissatisfied. The Department is currently giving detailed consideration to the report of the National Consumer Council "When things go wrong at school", which we welcome as a contribution to that process of review.
School Meals
Ms. Primarolo : To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will reintroduce nutritional standards for school meals.
Mr. Forth : It is for those who provide school meals to determine the nutritional balance of the meals on offer.
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NATIONAL FINANCE
Inheritance Tax
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the estates in Wales which have been granted relief from inheritance tax on condition that public access is allowed to the land in question in each year from 1984 to the present time.
Mr. Dorrell : The heritage advisory agencies, including the Countryside Council for Wales, can supply information about public access to heritage land including conditionally exempt land. To protect taxpayers' confidentiality, the conditionally exempt land cannot be distinguished.
Electricity Privatisation
Mrs. Dunwoody : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total cost to public funds of electricity privatisation.
Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the replies given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy on 31 January 1992, at column 723, and by my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland on 31 January 1992, at column 722 . The costs for the privatisation of the Northern Ireland electricity industry will be announced in due course.
Brookvale Trading Estate
Mr. Rooker : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement setting out the reasons why the Inland Revenue valuation office in Birmingham has refused the claim for alteration to the rating list by businesses at the Brookvale trading estate in respect of the effect of overdue work on a motorway repair contract.
Mr. Dorrell : The claim for alteration to the rating list by businesses at the Brookvale trading estate is still under consideration.
The valuation officer, Birmingham has explained to the ratepayers that he is prepared to discuss the position with them and he is currently carrying out further investigations before doing so.
Mortgage Tax Relief
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to study the German system of mortgage tax relief for first- time buyers of homes as an alternative to mortgage interest relief at source.
Mr. Dorrell : The Government have received a number of suggestions recently involving increased mortgage interest relief for first-time buyers, all of which are considered carefully.
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to grant mortgage holders the right to capitalise mortgage interest relief at source tax benefit as a means of reducing mortgage debts.
Mr. Dorrell : We have no plans to do so.
Maxwell Pension Trust
Mr. Corbyn : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether companies' contributions to the Maxwell Pension Trust are treated by the Inland Revenue as tax allowable.
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Mr. Dorrell : The general rule when calculating the trading profits of a company is that a deduction is allowed for expenses incurred wholly and exclusively for business purposes. Whether a company's contributions to the Maxwell Pension Trust satisfy this test will depend on the particular facts of each case.
Friendly Societies
Mr. McMaster : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what progress has been made in setting up the Friendly Societies Commission under the Friendly Societies Act 1992.
Mr. Dorrell : The Treasury has appointed five commissioners, one full time and four part time, to the Friendly Societies Commission, one more than the minimum required by the Friendly Societies Act 1992. The new commission was formally constituted on 1 October 1992.
Royal Family
Mr. Jim Cunningham : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to extend taxation of income to members of the royal family who are currently excluded.
Mr. Lamont : I have no plans to do so.
Corporation Tax
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the change in the yield of corporation tax as a result of the reduction in interest rates from 15 per cent. to 10 per cent. ; and what further increase would result from a reduction in interest rates to 6 per cent.
Mr. Dorrell : The yield of corporation tax depends on all forms of company income and on reliefs and allowances, each of which may be affected directly or indirectly by interest rates and by a range of other factors. I regret therefore that it is not possible to answer the question put by the hon. Member.
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